Look Closer
by BookWriter2014
Summary: When her father's substitute backs out of a job, it's up to Belle to fix a basement for the town monster, Mr. Gold; But upon meeting, the two soon find themselves hopelessly smitten with each other, the only problem is neither are willing to say it first, leaving it up to their friends to find a way to get them together
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Mr. Gold sighed. Today, his handy-man Moe French's substitute was going to work on the new building down town that he had acquired last week. Normally Moe French's job was to maintain all of the buildings Mr. Gold owned; but on occasion, when he bought a new building that was in poor condition, he would pay Moe extra to fix the building for him.

That building in poor condition was where Mr. Gold was now. The two story, brick building had formally been a restraunt. But after its owners passed away, the building had been put onto the market, where Gold had purchased it. Only when he had investigated the basement of the building did he realize why he had gotten it so cheap. The basement had a water leakage problem, and the walls had never been finished, so now Mr. Gold was stuck paying Moe French extra to fix it.

Except it wasn't Moe French that was working on it, it was his substitute, one of the handy-man's former apprentices who had agreed to do the favor for him while he was on a cruise as his vacation. While Moe French was an excellent handy-man, his substitutes, especially his apprentices, never were. Mr. Gold always ended up having Moe fix the building after his substitutes were supposedly finished fixing it. And because of this very reason, Mr. Gold was in no mood for his handy-man to be late.

Mr. Gold leaned on his cane and glanced at his watch. The fancy face of the clock read three-twenty. Gold frowned; his handy-man was supposed to be here ten minutes ago. He drummed his fingers on his gold handled cane, and straightened his tie. Still the man didn't show.

"I'll have to have a chat with Mr. French about hiring the worst possible substitutes to take his place while he's on vacation," Mr. Gold muttered angrily as he started towards his car. He was fumbling with his car keys, trying to pick out the one that opened his car door when a cheerful, and surprisingly feminine voice sounded from behind him.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to run," Mr. Gold shoved his car keys into his pocket, a sneer already visible on his face as he turned around to snarl at the feminine sounding handy-man. The sneer dropped from his face the moment he saw Moe French's temporary replacement.

The handy-man was a woman. Mr. Gold couldn't help but stare at her for a moment; despite the dirty appearance; the scuffed up sneakers, old blue overalls and stained yellow t-shirt, she was stunningly beautiful. Her chestnut curls were thrown into a bun at the back of her head, though strands of hair fell into her ocean blue eyes.

Her eyes. He had never seen anything so blue before, and couldn't help but get lost in those blue depths for a few moments before he managed to recover his composure.

"Don't you have a watch?" he snapped at her, forcing his features back into the hard mask he always wore when anyone was around.

"Yes I have a watch," she replied, setting down her bag full of tools onto the pavement. "But I don't have a car and I just got the call from dad this morning, his other substitute backed out on him". She stuck her hand out to shake his, "I'm Belle French. Moe's Daughter".

Mr. Gold stared at her hand for a moment as if she might strike him, but then he reached out and shook her hand, a tingle running up his arm from his hand touching hers. "Mr. Gold". He said. She smiled at him; butterflies erupted in his stomach, why was she smiling at him like that?

"So this is the building?" she tilted her head towards the former restraunt, and he nodded.

"Please follow me Ms. French," he said, and headed towards the double doors at the front of the building, Belle picked her bag of tools up again and followed him. When he managed to get the door open, he held it open for her, once again resulting in a smile from her, with an added and quite disturbingly cheerful "thank you".

He followed her inside, letting the door fall shut behind him before he reached over and flicked the light switches, bathing the combined waiting and dining room in bright artificial light. Belle's eyes widened at the room and her smile broadened.

"It's beautiful in here," she said, glancing back at him, almost as if she were waiting for him to agree with her.

"It was an Italian restaurant before it went on the market," Gold explained, gesturing to the Italian decorations adorning the walls, tables and bar. "But I'm afraid the basement is another matter".

Belle nodded in understanding, though the grin remained plastered on her face, "A bad leak, and unfinished walls right?" Mr. Gold placed his cane in front of him and clasped the handle with both hands.

"Yes, now please follow me, the stairway is in the back of the kitchen," he told her, then turned and started for the kitchen on the other side of the room.

After passing through the kitchen, Gold opened the door at the back of the room that led down into the retched basement; allowing Belle to once again go first when the door opened.

"You're a true gentleman Mr. Gold," Belle complimented him as he began to follow her down the stairs, internally cursing his bum leg as he grasped the railing, trying not to fall on the old, wooden steps.

Gold snorted, "I believe that the rest of Storybrooke would disagree with you Dearie". Belle turned to face him, and gave him another one of her sweet smiles,

"Well, I guess I'm just extra special then," Belle said. Then she turned back and went down the last step to stand on the messy tile floor. Belle was looking over the basement, fingering through her bag for whatever it was she was looking for when Mr. Gold finally joined her.

"How long do you wager it'll take to fix the basement?" Mr. Gold asked her when she stood up, tools in hand.

"About four or five days. Seven or eight if there's any mold," Belle said. She walked over to one of the pipes sticking out of the tank by the wall and looked at him, her eyes lashes fluttering. "Do you think you could help me with this real quick?" she asked.

Mr. Gold froze, "What?"

"I need someone to hold the pipe in place, while I tighten it, so I can stop the leak," she explained, gesturing to the silver pipe sticking out of the tank that was leaking water. "It will make it easier so I don't have to call Ruby and have her as my second". He relucetntly closed the distance between them so that he was standing right next to her in front o

"I'm afraid I'd have to confiscate your tools if she set foot in the basement," Gold said, trying not to show his discomfort at being so close to Ms. French.

To his surprise, Belle giggled, "I can't blame you, she's a tad clumsy with tools". He felt a glowing heat in the pit of his stomach when Belle took his hand and placed it on the pipe. She looked him in the eyes, causing his breath to hitch in his throat. "Place your other hand on the upper part of the pipe, and push them together so I can get the bolts in and tighten them so that the pipe doesn't leak". Obediently, he let his cane lean against the tank, and did as she told him.

Every time her hands brushed against his as she tightened the bolts, his heart nearly leapt out of his chest. This was ridiculous, he hadn't even known the woman for more than a few minutes and yet he had already developed a small crush on her.

No! He thought, forcing himself to stare at one of the bolts instead of her lovely face, he wouldn't be the old cripple lusting after his handy-man's daughter. Besides, the poor woman was just being polite and doing her job, she wasn't trying to make him feel anything, but satisfied with her work.

The moment she told him she was done working on the pipe, he dropped his hands and grabbed his cane, fully prepared to walk back upstairs to leave her to her work.

"I didn't pinch you with one of the bolts did I?" she exclaimed, eyes wide with worry, her teeth worrying her bottom lip.

Gold swallowed hard, "No, of course not Dearie. The pipe was just cold". Even to his own ears, that excuse sounded utterly pathetic. Belle didn't seem to catch this though, for the moment he said it, she smiled and clasped her hands together in front of her.

"Next time you can borrow my gloves if you want, I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable helping me," Belle said, she gestured to the dark brown and surprisingly large gloves lying on top of her tool bag.

"Next time," he echoed, his grip on his cane tightening.

"Yeah," Belle's smile faltered slightly, "I need help with the dry wall, it's always been a two person job, or at least that's how I was taught . . ." she trailed off and then looked at him with hopeful eyes.

He should refuse. He bossed people around and made them quiver in their shoes whenever he approached, especially his renters. He didn't help out his employees. But those darn eyes of hers! "I'll be here tomorrow at the same time, don't be late," he told her, silently cursing himself for having even spoken. He should have just turned around, without having said anything. Now the bloody woman could tell everyone all over town how she got Mr. Gold to help her dry wall a basement.

"Great," Belle chirped when he turned around to start up the stairs, "By the way I love your accent, it's very charming".

Gold just about choked when those words left her pretty little mouth. He turned to face her, stunned. She giggled innocently at his expression. "Don't look so shocked, there's not many people in town with a cute accent".

"It's a small town," he managed, slightly breathless, "I should be going, rent to collect." She nodded and smiled at him again, before turning back to take measurements of the wall.

"See you tomorrow Mr. Gold," she called as he went up the stairs. At the top, he choked out a small goodbye and hurried out of the building as fast as his bum leg could manage.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

For the rest of that day, Mr. Gold had taken out his confusion self-directed anger on his poor renters, and anyone who dared approach him in the Pawnshop.

He threw the rag into the bucket from behind his counter, unable to concentrate on cleaning his shop. He just couldn't seem to get his mind off of Ms. Belle French, which only added to dampen his already sour mood. He didn't want to be the perverted old cripple lusting after the beautiful handy-woman, not that it was just lust he felt towards her.

Sighing, he looked at his watch and sighed again. It was still two hours from closing time. For once, he didn't want anyone to stumble into his shop, needing money; he just wanted to go home and take a shower, to wash all of his thoughts of Belle down the drain.

But with a little chime from the tiny belle stationed at his shop door, the bloody woman he'd been trying to stop thinking about had just waltzed into his shop.

"Hello Ms. French, what brings you to my shop?" he asked, trying his best to sound casual; though the fluttery feeling in his stomach had returned with her presence. Gold groaned inwardly at his own stupidity, it was like being a lovesick teenager again.

She smiled at him, and his stomach did a back flip in response. She walked over to his counter and set her tool bag down on the floor, then looked him in the eye.

"You forgot to give me a key to the building so I can lock and unlock it Mr. Gold," she said, obviously trying not to giggle at Gold's forgetfulness.

"Oh," he said, and reached into his pocket for the key, but upon doing so he remembered he had placed it in a box in the back of his shop. "You'll have to excuse for a moment Ms. French, it's in the back".

Mr. Gold with the help of his cane walked into the back and grabbed the key from its hiding place; he took a deep breath to collect himself and strolled back out into the front of his shop.

When he returned to the front, Belle was looking at jewelry in one of his glass cases. After he cleared his throat loudly to gain her attention, she walked back over to him, smiling again.

"Here you are Ms. French," Gold said, handing her the key. Belle politely took the key from him and examined it before placing it in her pocket.

"Is that your only copy or do you have another, we can share the key while I work on the building if you want," she suggested, her blue eyes sparkling.

Gold swallowed, "I have another key to the building". He readjusted his tie uncomfortable when Belle didn't leave right away. Instead she abandoned her tool bag on the floor, and walked around his shop, looking around curiously.

Belle stopped at his book shelf filled with old and new books alike; she leaned down so that her bottom stuck up in the air while she looked at a lower shelf.

Though he tried not to stare at her shapely figure, he couldn't resist the temptation to stare at her, but to his great relief, she stood up again, this time with a book in her hands.

"Found something you liked Ms. French?" Mr. Gold asked her, feeling his cheeks warm when she flashed him another one of her charming smiles.

"Yes, did actually. And by the way you can call me Belle if you like," she walked back over to his counter and set the book down, "After all we will be working together for a few days". She smiled at him again as he rang up her purchase, a novel called Zoo.

"I always call people by their proper name Ms. French," he replied, flashing her a smug, but mischeivious smile, trying not to let the woman worm her way into his heart, after all the last thing he needed was another Cora episode.

Belle felt herself go weak in the knees at his smile; not only because it was the first time she had seen him smile, but also because she knew it was directed at her.

"Well my proper name would be what I want you to call me by, so that would be Belle, Mr. Gold," Belle said.

Gold opened his mouth to say something in reply, but before he could say anything, Belle spoke up, "By the way, I love your shop, it's so fascinating. Dad never mentioned that you were a pawnbroker," she took the book from him and picked up her bag, still smiling sweetly at him.

"Well, I try to keep my work life away from hobbies Belle," he said, offering her a shy smile.

Belle's heart fluttered, Mr. Gold was so impossibly cute, especially when he seemed shy or uncertain about her flirting with him, she only hoped he realized that she was attracted to him, not his money.

"Don't worry I do too," Belle said, "Or at least I try to."

"Hey Gold," Gold's smile faded from his face the moment he heard the familiar voice as the man stepped into his shop, gait lazy.

Belle turned her headto watch Jefferson approach the counter, who as soon as he noticed her, did a little bow, his top hat almost falling off. "Hello Miss."

"Hello," Belle said politely, she turned back to Gold who felt an immediate twinge of jealousy towards Jefferson, "Anyway, I should be going Mr. Gold, thanks for the book, I'll see you tomorrow".

Gold watched her leave, ignoring Jefferson entirely until the other man bumped him with his arm. Mr. Gold sighed and turned his attention to the younger man who had placed a wad of cash onto the counter, and was now leaning lazily against it, a gleam in his eyes.

"What do you want Jefferson?" Gold asked. Out of everyone in town, nobody came to his shop and bothered him more than Jefferson.

"You know that building you bought at the auction; you put a sign in your shop window that says someone can rent it, well I want to rent it," Jefferson said, pushing the bundle of cash towards him.

Gold picked the bundle up and counted out the money, in the end, the bundle contained fifty-seven dollars, the exact amount he had painted on the sign that showed what the rent for the building would be.

Gold handed him back seven dollars, and Jefferson took it from him lazily and shoved it back into his pocket. After a while, since Jefferson, despite all of his annoyingness, had become Gold's favorite customer, he had been given discounts on many things such as rent and even items in the shop.

"What are you going to use it for?" Gold asked, he needed to know if Jefferson needed anything to be put in, so he could tell Mr. French, but this time, it would be Belle.

"You know, Storybrooke needs some excitement, so I was thinking about turning it into a nightclub, how's the "Enchanted Castle" sound to you Rum?" Jefferson said, using his hands to exaggerate his point.

"Sounds fine to me," Gold replied. The only person who had ever learned of his first name on accident was Jefferson, and the man refused to call him Mr. Gold when they were alone, a trait that had originally annoyed Rumford Gold to no end, but by now he was used to it.

"Speaking of which, who was that girl in here a few moments ago?" Jefferson asked, leaning a little too close for Gold's liking.

"Her name is Belle French; she's taking her father's place as my handy-man while her father is on vacation".

"Mm-hm," Jefferson smiled, a gleam of mischief in his pale blue eyes, "I'll see you later Rum, don't forget to call me when the building is finished being repaired".

Belle silently cursed her own fear that had forced her to leave Gold's shop before she had a chance to really engage in conversation with him.

She had gone in there not only to get the key but to try and get to know him, he was unlike anyone she had ever met before, and truth be told, he seemed like a mystery, and Belle loved figuring out mysterious.

But before she could truly get deep in conversation with the Pawnbroker, another man had come in to do business with her employer. She had panicked and left.

Now she was sulking in a booth at Granny's, waiting for her best friend Ruby to get off so that they could go see a new movie together, as they had planned several weeks before.

"Hey, why do you look so down. We're going to go see Pixels, aren't you excited?" Ruby all but danced over to Belle's booth. The burnette looked up at her red haired friend and nodded,

"I'm excited, just puzzled by my new job this morning," Belle explained.

"Spill it, I can't have my friend frowning," Ruby said, sliding into the booth beside her. Belle sighed and fiddled with the straw in her drink before answering.

"Well, my dad works for Mr. Gold, and his normal substitute backed out this morning so I had to take his place and work on this basement for Mr. Gold and well, he wasn't exactly what I was expecting," Belle said, "I mean, everyone that knows him says that he's this vicious monster of a man that tries to manipulate people. But, the man I met was none of those things. He's strict, but I understand that because I was a few minutes late, and he was such a gentle man, I don't know what to think of him Ruby".

Ruby smiled and placed her hand on Belle's shoulder, forcing Belle to look up at her friend, "You like him don't you?"

"What no! Ew! Well, maybe a little," Belle blushed and stared at her drink awkwardly. Ruby grinned, her eyes gleaming with excitement and mischief.

"Oh, we are so talking about this after the movie," she said.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The next morning, before he went over to help Belle dry-wall, Mr. Gold readied himself for the day, showering, changing clothes, shaving and eating breakfast.

Normally he would just eat a cold bowl of cereal, but today he had made himself bacon and eggs to try and improve his mood over his current situation.

"Quack, Quack, Quack," Gold startled at the sound of phone alerting him to Jefferson texting him. It had taken Jefferson nearly two months to get Gold to exchange phone numbers with him, and almost instantly afterwards, Gold had went out of his way to find the most annoying sound to match Jefferson's number.

Gold, out of curiosity checked his phone, usually Jefferson only texted him after one PM; Gold hadn't even thought that Jefferson would be up this early.

 **You doing anything tonight?** Gold texted back quickly so that he could leave.

 **No, I never do anything on a Friday night** , he wrote.

 **Well, tonight you are. There's a bar down town that is just dying to get us drunk, and besides, you need to get out more.**

 **No,** Gold wrote back.

 **Don't be a turtle! you're going if I have to hog tie you and drag you there** Gold sighed, Jefferson had a habit of comparing Gold with a turtle due to both having a tendency to stay in their shell. It was his friend's way of telling him not to be so antisocial.

 **Why are we friends again?** Gold texted.

 **Great, meet me at your shop at six.** Gold groaned, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to talk Jefferson out of making him go. And if he didn't even show up, he could easily imagine the hatter making good on his word about hog-tying him. After all, if Jefferson could handle his extremely hyper ten year old daughter Grace on Halloween, he could easily handle a cranky Mr. Gold.

That was one of the few things the two men had in common, both were divorced. While Gold's son was grown and living on his own now, Jefferson's daughter still lived with him during the school year. Unfortunately it was summer, and Grace was currently living with her mother Alice in New York City. And since Grace wasn't with her father at the moment that meant Jefferson was bound to drag him to more than one bar for a night out that summer.

 **Fine, see you** **then** Gold wrote reluctantly. He put his phone on vibrant and shoved it into his pocket before he cleaned up from his breakfast and left his house.

It didn't take him long to reach the building, and to his relief, Belle wasn't late today. But then he felt the familiar anxiety and butterflies that he had felt around her yesterday. He took a moment to calm himself down as best as he could before he stepped out of the car.

"Hey Mr. Gold," Belle chirped cheerfully, the key to his building swinging from her key chain clipped to her belt.

"Hello Ms-Belle," he said quickly when she started to frown. But the moment he changed it to her first name she smiled again, and it sent a shiver down his spine. How had this woman gotten under armor so quickly?

"The dry walls in the basement, I had the Lowes people bring it here and then I had them help me get it down there, but I still need help installing it," she smiled sweetly at him, and turned to unlock the door.

"Well I suppose this little venture will be over quite soon then," he commented. His brain wished for it to be over already, but his poor stupid little fluttery heart was wishing it would never end.

"Yah, I suppose so," was that sorrow he heard in her voice? Gold shook himself, no he was just imagining what he wanted to hear. Actually what he wanted to hear was that she never wanted to leave his side, which was exactly the way he felt around her. But that would never happen.

When she got the door unlocked, he quickly went over and held it open for her, just as he had done the day before. She smiled again at him, fluttering her eyelashes a little before going in.

He slipped into the building behind her, and walked ahead, despite his bum leg protesting this faster movement, and once again opened the door for her, his face growing hot when she looked at him in some surprise, but kept that sweet little smile on her face.

"Thank you Gold," she murmured.

"O-of course," he stammered, feeling slightly dazed by her sapphire eyes. But then she was already heading down the stairs, and his heart gave a huge lurch when she slipped on one of the stairs, forcing her to grab onto the railing for support.

"I think these stairs need fixed as well, so people don't slip on them too," Belle called, her voice strangely hoarse. Gold swallowed, was she mad that he hadn't gone first so that he would have slipped instead of her? Or was she mad that he had brought her into a fairly dangerous environment. Guilt flooded through his veins against his will.

Belle hated feeling like a liar. It wasn't that she had nessicarily lied to him, it was true that she had actually slipped on the stairs. But that had been entirely her fault for having stepped right on the edge of one. But as soon as she had grabbed the railing for balance the idea to find a way to spend a few more days with him had been far too tempting.

"Good idea," Gold choked out, then added, "Are you alright Belle?" She looked back at him, her hair falling into her face; oh how he longed to reach out and tuck it behind her ear.

"Yeah, I'm ok," she said rather cheerfully. She then bounced down the stairs, leaving him with nothing to do but head down and hope he wouldn't slip. Luckily he safely made it down, and waited for her to tell him what she needed him to do.

"Ok, can you help me lift this piece?" she asked, picking up one end of the dry-wall board. Gold looked down at his bum leg and then at her before nodding his head. As long as it wasn't extremely heavy and he had help, he could lift things, just not for long.

He rested his cane against the stair way and limped over to the other side of the board and helped her lift it up and place it against the wall.

It was much simpler than he had thought it would be. And fairly easy, considering how light the board actually was. But he understood her need for him to help her. While she plastered it into place, he lifted it.

By five, they had three of the five walls done.

While Belle put her equiptment away, Gold retrieved his cane and sat down on the last step of the stairway, resting his now aching leg.

When Belle turned around, she noticed this and was instantly frowning. "Are you ok? I didn't hurt you any did I?" she asked, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

"No," he said quickly, a little too quickly to even act normal, "It's just my leg cramps up sometimes, is all". She still looked concerned and the tiniest bit guilty. Belle folded her arms across her chest and rubbed the side on one with her hand.

"I can help relieve some of the pain if you want me to," she said awkwardly, and then added quickly, "I know a few massage techniques, after all I did cause it to start hurting in the first place so it's the least I can do".

"You don't have to if you don't want to, I can just take tylanal," he said, though the thought of refusing having her hands on him made his heart want to shrivel up and die.

"I want to help though," Belle said, "I caused the problem after all, and besides I could always use some practice on my technique". She walked over to the stairway and sat down in front of him.

"Ok," he said in a small voice, unable to make himself any louder. The butterflies swarming his stomach were not helping his case in any way, nor was his mind. The small cowardly part of him wanted to tell her that he was fine and then walk back up the stairs; but the truth was, his leg really did hurt.

"I'll just start with your ankle then work my way up to your knee, alright?" she said, a little uncertainly, her teeth once again worrying her bottom lip. Oh how he wanted to kiss her.

"Alright," he said, mentally screaming at himself to get a grip. The poor woman just had too big of a heart and wanted to help him so that she wouldn't feel guilty about putting him in pain was all.

Belle very gently placed her hands on either side of his bad leg's ankle and slowly began to rub. Gold's breathed hitched in his throat, but he forced himself to keep breathing normally. She's just trying to help, she's just trying to help, he kept repeating to himself, more than anything to keep his body from betraying him.

She carefully maneuvered from his ankle to the middle of his lower leg, all trace of pain vanishing with her gently and caring touch.

When she reached his knee, she looked up at him and asked quietly, "Does your leg feel any better?"

"You should be a masooce," he murmured, and then shook himself, "Much better thanks". She gave him a shy smile and stood up, offering him her hand to help him to his feet. Feeling like an absolute idiot, he awkwardly took her hand and let her pull him to his feet. His leg felt brand new despite the day's earlier events.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" Belle asked, her eyes hopeful. Apparently he wasn't quite as useless as he thought he had been.

"Of course, until then my dear," he said, and moved out of the way so that she could go up before him. Belle blushed, and he silently bit his tongue to keep himself from saying anything else completely stupid.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"I'm not drinking," Gold said.

"Yes you are, it's no fun when only one of us is drinking," Jefferson replied. They were walking to the Rabbit Hole bar from Gold's shop, and were nearly there.

"One of us needs to stay sober, that's the rule," Gold replied icily. He enjoyed having fun and having a drink with Jefferson every once and a while, despite what he said, but he never crossed the line of having at least one sober person in the group.

"We do, that's why I invited Archie," Jefferson said, and he waved to the lone siluate of the psychologist standing outside the bar.

Gold sighed, well at least it wasn't Dr. Wales, he thought. Actually, if Gold was honest with himself, Archie wasn't that bad. Almost every time they needed a third wheel, Archie was free to do the deed with them. Another good thing about Archie was that the man was strictly against drinking, though he didn't mind tagging along to be the sober party.

Dr. Hopper was also the only person Gold would tolerate seeing him get drunk around besides Jefferson, and that one was only because the hatter was almost always drunk right along with him.

"Hello Jefferson, Mr. Gold," Archie smiled when he saw them, and dipped his head in respect to Gold.

"Archie," Jefferson said.

"Dr. Hopper," Mr. Gold greeted him. Together the three of them went inside and seated themselves at one of the booths.

When a waiter came around, Archie was the first to order, all he ever got was water. Then Mr. Gold went; already knowing that he'd do best to last the night with a good scotch. Jefferson was always indecisive when it came to ordering anything, whether it was drink or food.

"I think I'll go with a vodka," Jefferson said finally. The waiter scribbled down his order and hurried off to the bar.

"Plan on being carried out of here Jeff?" Archie asked with a small laugh, though neither he or Gold were big fans of drinking, both loved teasing Jefferson about his wild side. Gold smirked, but he knew his turn to be teased would be coming soon enough.

"Possible," Jefferson replied, grinning like a maniac. "Speaking of which I thought I was going to have to drag Gold out of his shop when he wasn't on time—," the hatter turned to face Gold, "Care to elaborate Rum?"

"I was helping someone," Gold said, his tone was dismissive, but either Jefferson didn't understand his tone of voice or he was choosing to ignore it, it was probably the latter. Jefferson was smarter than he looked, but he also knew how far he could get away with pushing Gold.

"Ooh, do tell, do tell," His friend said, propping his head up in his hand, elbow resting on the table. Archie raised an eyebrow in question.

"Have any troublesome patients Dr. Hopper?" Gold asked, purposely changing the subject. Jefferson frowned, and began to tap his fingers on the table top.

"I don't know Mr. Gold, I would certainly like to hear about who you were helping," Archie said, exchanging a mischievious smile with Jefferson. Why couldn't he be friends with people who were blind as moles?

"I'm a pawnbroker, is it so odd for me to be helping someone?" Gold asked, thankful that their drinks had finally arrived. The night wasn't off to a great start, and if this was how the entire thing was going to be then he would need a drink to help him.

"Yes," Jefferson said, pulling his drink over to him, but didn't take a sip yet. Archie downed some of his water and looked at Gold expectantly.

Gold decided to kill some time, and gulped down some of his scotch, before he answered, "You both know that Moe's on vacation right?" Both men nodded, though Jefferson was now grinning like the bloody Cheshire cat himself.

"Well his daughter took his job on while he's out, because his usually substitute backed out apparently," Gold took another sip and continued, "Well, Ms. French asked me to assist her with the basement because she apparently believes that it's a two person job, and I refused to let Ruby Lucas enter that basement for fear of it being doomed". A dreamy look came over Archie's face the moment he mentioned Ruby, and Gold knew that Dr. Hopper had it worst than he did.

"Mm-hm, are you sure that's the only reason?" Jefferson pressed, eyes gleaming. He finally took a sip of his own drink and looked smugly at Gold.

"I'm surprised at you Archie," Gold said, purposely ignoring Jeff at the moment, "I would have never taken you for the bad-girl type". Archie's face went bright red, and Jefferson's attention was adverted.

While the hatter was focused solely on Archie, Mr. Gold managed to mouth his apology to the psychologist.

"Belle? Earth to Belle?" Ruby shook Belle's shoulder, snapping the young woman out of the day dream she'd just been having about Mr. Gold kissing her senseless.

They were sitting at a booth in Grannies, Ruby had just gotten off her shift and the two were now having hot coco.

"Huh? What, sorry, I must've been—," Belle began to apologize.

"Daydreaming about Mr. Gold," Rub cut her off with a grin. Her friend shook her head and sighed, "Just invite him to have lunch with you Belle, it's not that difficult,".

"Yes it is, I don't want him thinking that I'm trying to manipulate him," Belle said, she took a sip of her coco and sighed, "Besides I have to be up early tomorrow to finish dry walling and start on the stairs".

"Come on Belle, you'll never know if you don't give it a shot," Ruby said, reaching out to grab Belle's arm before the burnette could leave.

"Ruby, it's late, I really do need to be getting home," Belle sighed.

"But it's only eight and its Friday," Ruby instantly protested and began doing her pathetic puppy dog face, but it was still good enough to make Belle feel guilty for wanting to go home early.

"You need to work on your puppy-dog face," Belle sighed, sinking back down into the booth. Ruby grinned.

"It worked didn't it?" she teased her.

Just then, the front door to Grannies opened and in stumbled Mr. Gold, Archie and the man with the top hat that Belle had seen earlier in Gold's Pawnshop.

While Archie appeared sober, both the hatted man and Gold were grinning and laughing about something.

"Well speak of the devil," Ruby said, giving Belle a mischievious grin.

The trio, mostly due to Archie, stumbled over to a nearby booth. While Gold and his friend sat down, Archie called Ashley, one of the waitresses over and ordered something for the three of them.

"Well this works out perfectly," Ruby practically squealed. Her friend grabbed her arm and hauled her out of their booth and over to the men's.

"Ruby, this isn't a good idea," Belle tried to protest, but they were already there. Archie looked up at them when they stopped in front of his booth, and Belle could have sworn the man was blushing as Ruby began to address him.

"Hey Archie, do you mind if Belle and I sit with you and your friends?" she asked, batting her eyes at him. The pchycologist swallowed hard and smiled at her,

"Of course not Ruby," he said, motioning to the seat opposite of him and his friends. Ruby pushed Belle in ahead of her, forcing her to face Gold and his unnamed friend, while Ruby sat in front of Archie.

"Ruby, Belle, this is Mr. Gold and Jefferson," Archie said nodding to the two men who had by now finally noticed the two women's arrival at their booth.

"Hello Belle," Gold said, smiling almost shyly at her. Belle's heart fluttered with delight that he had was smiling at her.

"Here's your pie pieces," Ashley said, placing three plates, each with a piece of apple pie on it, in front of the three men.

"How much will that be Ashley?" Archie asked, pulling out his billfold.

"Five fifty," Ashley said. Archie nodded, but Gold stopped him from taking any money out of the billfold.

"I'll pay," he slurred, pulling a twenty out of his coat pocket and placing it roughly into Ashley's hand.

"This is a twenty," she said, eyes wide with surprise.

"I think Mr. Gold and Jefferson are drunk," Ruby whispered to Belle who silently agreed, while Gold was being strangely generous, he made Ashley keep the twenty, Jefferson was lazily petting the table.

"Sorry about Gold and Jeff," Archie said, looking over at his friends, "Jefferson made us go to the rabbit hole for a drink or two, and then he and Gold wanted to come here". He met Ruby's gaze and shyly looked away, using his pie as his excuse.

"I think Archie likes you," Belle whispered in her friends' ear, causing Ruby to blush, an uncharacteristic event.

"If I ask him out, you have to ask Gold when he's sober," Ruby hissed in Belle's ear before turning to face Archie, "Hey Archie, do you want to have lunch with me tomorrow, I'm free at one".

"Sure Ruby, I'd love to," Archie said, smiling happily at Ruby, who grinned back and elbowed Belle in the ribs out of the boys' view.

"Hey Belle," Gold said, drawing her attention back to him. Belle, despite herself was thankful that he was drunk, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to meet his gaze.

"Yeah Mr. Gold," she said, smiling like a silly school girl with a crush, which actually wasn't that far from the truth.

"I don't think I'll be able to make it tomorrow, how about we go over to the building on Monday? I'll be out all tomorrow cause of this one," Mr. Gold grinned and hooked his arm around Jefferson's shoulders , causing the hatter to nearly spit out his last piece of pie.

"You two are dating!" Jefferson blurted out suddenly, a look of sheer delight on his face, "Why didn't you tell me?" Belle stared at Jefferson, utterly confused; apparently she wasn't the only one. Gold, Archie and Ruby were also staring at him.

"I think Jefferson's had too much," Ruby commented, though she seemed to like the idea of what Jefferson had said. She wasn't the only one, Belle wished that what the hatter had said was true more than anything, but judging from the utter confusion and horror on Gold's face, she doubted the pawnbroker felt the same.

"I should probably get these two home," Archie said with a reluctant sigh, he smiled at Ruby and told her goodbye, before standing.

"Come on Gold, Jeff," he said. Gold looked over at Archie in slight annoyance before he looked back at Belle,

"Do you have a pen handy?" he asked her, tearing his napkin.

"Yeah, here," Belle said, handing him her blue ball ended pen. He took it from her, their hands touching for a moment, causing her heart to leap into her throat.

He scribbled something down on the napkin and handed the note to her, it held a bunch of numbers.

"It's my cell number," he explained, his face turning a darker shade, "In case you need to call me or something". He hurried out of the booth, Jefferson just behind him, and still grinning wildly.

As the men left, Ruby grabbed Belle's arm and squealed loudly, "He gave you his number!" Belle smiled happily and took his phone out, quickly adding his number to her list of contacts. She knew he would probable regret giving her his number in the morning when he was sober, but at the moment, she didn't care.

"You're right Ruby," Belle murmured, "It's worth a shot asking him to have lunch with me". She made a mental note to call him later to give him her number.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Gold sighed and banged his head against the table where he was sitting in his kitchen. He had never felt more stupid in his entire life, well maybe that wasn't entirely true, but it felt like it.

Today was Sunday, and only now was he beginning to regret going out to drink with Jefferson. Mainly because he had slept most of Saturday, his head blazing and throbbing in agony from his hang over.

Despite having been drunk, Gold still remembered the look of surprise in Belle's eyes when he had not only shared his pie with her but had also given her his cell number and then had left without even getting hers.

He shouldn't have even gone to Grannies after drinking, he should have listened to common sense and had Archie take him home before things got out of control. Well, at least Archie had had the better sense to get the two men home before things had really gotten out of control.

His head snapped up, eyes flickering over to where his now beeping phone lay on the table beside his right hand. To his surprise, it wasn't Jefferson or his son, Neal, who were the only people who ever texted or called him. His heart lurched, it had to be Belle.

Warily, he picked up his phone and answered, "Hello?"

"Hello? Is this Mr. Gold?" Belle's angelic voice washed over him, his heart danced in his chest, fluttering with happiness at just hearing her voice.

Gold swallowed hard, before he answered, "It is, who is this?" he mentally slapped himself for saying that, after all he knew who it was. Wait would it sound stalkerish for him to have memorized how her voice sounded? He hoped not.

"It's Belle French," she told him, her voice betrayed her nervousness, "You gave me your number on Friday. I-um, wanted to see you had anything planned today. Jefferson Hatter gave me some of the plans he was wanting done to the basement and rest of the building. I thought we could all have lunch together today at Grannies to see if the changes are ok with you".

"Yes that's fine, what time?" he asked, feeling instantly better than he had all weekend, save for Friday.

"How about in an hour? Would you be able to make that?" Belle asked.

"Yes," Gold said without a hint of hesitation, after all what else did he have to do on a Sunday?

"Great, I'll see you then," Belle said cheerfully. With a clink, she hung up, leaving Gold with the stupidest huge smile on his face, that he couldn't seem to shake no matter how hard he tried as he got ready to head over to Grannies.

By the time he got to Grannies, his heart was pounding and butterflies had taken flight in his stomach. He paused outside the door to get himself under control, after all, he wasn't a teenager with a crush anymore. He was a grown man in his mid-forties, he had no reason to act like this.

He stepped inside, and glanced around for the others, easily spotting them at a nearby booth. The moment Jefferson spotted him, he waved him over, a huge grin plastered on his face.

Gold frowned as he walked over, noticing that Belle wasn't with him, instead Ruby, the town's insufferable gossip and Belle's best friend was. Actually come to think of it, both were grinning like the cheshire cat. It was more worrying on Ruby's face than it was on Jefferson's. What exactly were these two up to?

"Where's Belle?" Gold asked, sliding into the booth on Jefferson's side. Ruby's smile broadened,

"She went to the bathroom," she said, "But she'll be right—ah, here she is". Gold looked behind him to see Belle in a beautiful cream colored blouse, and green skirt. Her hair pulled back in a bun; it was the first time he had seen her in something other than her work clothes.

"Hello Mr. Gold," Belle said, smiling sweetly at him. She slid into the booth opposite of him, on Ruby's side.

"Belle," Gold said, hoping his voice was as cold as it usually sounded. Apparently from the look on Jefferson's face, it wasn't cold enough.

"How are you feeling?" Belle asked, her blue eyes boring holes right through his armor. "You two were quite drunk on Friday, and I know from Jefferson that his saterday was spent sleeping."

"I feel fine," Gold said, he had to get over this stupid little crush, but more words were already flooding out of his mouth, "I spent my saterday the same way Jeff here did".

"Sorry to hear about that," she said, still smiling at him. Gold suddenly felt unusually warm in his suit, and tugged a little on his tie, trying not to squirm under her gaze.

"Yes, well, shall we get down to business?" Gold suggested, hoping desperately that he was not blushing, like he thought he was.

"Sure thing," Jefferson pulled out a couple of blue prints from his jacket and placed them on the table, "I'll leave you two it," he said, and nudged Gold out of the booth to leave. Ruby smiled, mischief gleaming in her eyes, and followed suit; leaving Gold alone with Belle in the diner.

"They seem to be hitting it off," Belle commented, but soon she turned her attention to the papers before sliding them across the table to Gold. He tried to pay attention to them, which was fairly difficult when Belle was leaning over the table, her hand accidently brushing against his.

Luckily the rain outside, which had just started, distracted him enough for him to get down to business about the necessaries that the Nighclub would need.

After about half an hour, Gold signed the papers that gave Belle the permission to start working on the upstairs of the building and handed them to her. "Is that all?" he asked.

Belle nodded, "Yep, thanks for meeting me here Mr. Gold". Her smile lit the room again and Gold found the edges of his mouth starting to tilt upward in a small smile. He bit his tongue to keep from smiling as much as Belle was.

"It was my pleasure," he said, instantly regretting his choice of words when Belle raised her eyebrows at him, looking a little pleased.

She nodded and seemed to be wanting to say something more, but then they were both heading for the door.

Gold was glad he had chosen to drive; it was pouring dogs and cats out there. He frowned, hoping the power wouldn't go out later if it continued to rain like this.

"I should've drove," Belle groaned beside him, staring out into the rain. She sighed and pulled out her phone, "Guess it's time to call a cab," she muttered.

"I can drive you home if you like," Gold blurted out a little too eagerly. The moment Belle's head snapped up and turned to look at him in surprise, his face felt hotter than it had in a long time. If he hadn't been blushing earlier, he certainly was now.

"I mean, it would be quicker than calling a cab, and I have my car here . . . Besides I'm sure it's not too far out of my way . . . Even if it is . . . I was going to go for a drive later anyway," Gold stuttered, wishing he could just shut up before he made his situation even worse by spilling the truth, after all he already sounded like a fool in front of Belle.

But to his surprise, Belle smiled, her whole face lighting up. Clearly he had just made her day, but then again whose day wouldn't he have made if it was pouring buckets and he'd just offered them a ride?

"That would be nice, thank you Mr. Gold," she placed her hand over his, the one resting on his cane, and met his eyes. Gold swallowed hard again, feeling the intensely strong urge to kiss her right then and there.

Instead he looked away shyly, clearing his throat, "We best head out then, before it gets any worse".

He held the door for her, and then together they raced towards his cadilac, or well, Belle raced, he limped.

Belle piled into the passenger seat, and he hopped into the driver's seat, and started out of the parking lot. Belle glanced around the inside of his car, seemingly interested by all of the nick nacks he kept in there.

"Where to?" he asked once they were out on the road, daring a small glance at her. Belle was still smiling, sitting completely relaxed in his passenger seat.

When he spoke, she looked over at him and answered, "The library apartment," she said.

Gold frowned, "The library apartment?" he repeated.

Belle nodded, sure of her ground, "Yes. I run the library when I'm not helping my dad out. Well, I don't run it yet, but I'm trying to clean up the place. I have it ready for opening night next week. You should come".

"I will," Gold said, feeling slightly more comfortable now that he was in a more familiar environment, aka his Cadillac.

Within moments he had his car pulled up in front of the library and was helping Belle out of the car, a gentleman like always.

Belle smiled as he opened her door for her, "You're quite the gentleman, not even my own dad would open the door for me," she said with a laugh.

"Yes, well," Gold tried not to sound stupid this time around, "I was brought up that way you know". Belle hopped out of the car and ducked under the library sign hanging just above the doors to the building, gesturing for him to join her there.

Gold found that his feet were moving towards her before he could think better of it, and found himself standing in front of her, the rain pouring down around them. But he couldn't think of that, couldn't think of anything other than how nice it would feel to press his lips to hers. Or to wrap his arms around her, or—

Shoot, he really had to get a hold of himself, one wrong move and not only would he lose the fragile friendship of this seemingly magical creature in front of him, but his fearsome reputation as well.

"Thanks for driving me home," Belle said, taking a step towards him, once again resting her hand over his. "It was really sweet of you". He couldn't think, he couldn't think, he couldn't—

Belle moved her hand up and readjusted his tie, upon seeing the shock that was sure to be on his face, she said, "You're tie was coming undone, Mr. Gold". That made sense, he tried to think, but her hand was still resting against his chest, and he couldn't do anything, he was frozen in place with fear.

She leaned forward slightly, licking her lips nervously. "I uh—"

Gold pulled back, away from her, finally able to move, "I h-have to go," he stammered, feeling slightly dazed. Why! Why hadn't he just stayed put!

With that he swiftly ducked back into his car and left Belle to enter her apartment alone.

 _Sorry it's taken so long to update, I had a really bad case of writer's block and didn't know where to go with the story._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Rumford Gold sighed, not yet getting out of his car, while Jefferson sat in the passagner seat whistling cheerfully until he noticed Gold's hesitation.

"You Alright Rum? You've been acting weird for a couple days now, what happened?" Jefferson tilted his head to the side, curious and clearly worried.

"Yeah, just had a strange parting with Belle, you know after you and Ruby ditched us at Grannies on Monday," Gold said a little bitterly; he would never admit it out loud, but he was a little jealous about how easily the two seemed to hit it off. Gold wondered if they would start dating soon; he just wished that he and Belle could be like that. Not that she would ever like him that way.

Jefferson smiled, "You didn't seem to have a problem with my leaving you alone with Belle. Normally when I do that, you scowl. With Belle, you didn't".

"So? I've been working with her on your nightclub," Gold said, glaring at the steering wheel in front of him, while Jefferson chuckled; unfortunately for Gold, his friend could almost always catch on to what he was feeling.

"You looked like you were about to start blushing when she smiled at you like that," Jefferson teased him.

Gold's head snapped up, "Was not!"

His best friend raised an eyebrow, "Come on Rum, I know you better than that; you like her. Like really like her".

"So," Gold decided to give in. Outside, the door to Jeff's future nightclub opened to reveal Belle and Ruby. Belle had phoned all four of them, and had insisted that she needed all of their help with the main floor of the building to get it ready for opening day, which happened to be on saterday night. That meant Gold would spend another saterday night in Jeff's company, not that he was complaining. Jeff was one of the few people who put up with him.

"You boys going to sit in there all day?" Ruby called, winking at them, with a mischievious gleam in her eyes that mirrored he look in Jeff's eyes.

"We're coming, give us a moment," Gold yelled back.

"Don't worry about it Rum," Jefferson said, resting his hand on Gold's shoulder reassuringly, "You're more charming than you admit".

With that said, they both slipped out of the car and joined the girls inside.

Belle had them split into two teams, which Ruby automaticly picked; Jefferson would be with her, and Belle would be with Gold. One team, Ruby and Jeff would be working on cleaning the main floor of the building, and would begin to install some of the basic appliances, and furniture, like the bar, and the fridge and freezer in the kitchen.

Belle and Gold would do the rest, which mainly included painting the walls, installing the more complicated appliances, like the DJ equipment, and would put up the light fixtures.

"Dark forest pattered, and a castle" Gold shook his head at his friend's messy scrawl on the paper that said how they would go about painting, "Typical Jefferson".

"Come on, let's get started," Belle said, smiling at him. Gold's stomach did a back flip, and butterflies fluttered their way into it.

Within minutes, they had figured out a basic pattern for painting and had a smooth enough rhythm that they could talk to one another without worrying about messing up the paint job.

"Did I do something to upset you on Monday?" Belle asked quietly, looking over at him. Gold paused in his painting and looked at her, forcing himself to meet her gaze.

"No, why would you think that?" he asked. _Is it because I ran away like a coward_? He wondered.

"You just seemed really skittish, and we were going to talk, and you, well, you kind of just took off. I didn't know if I said something that upset you," Belle said, putting her paint brush down.

Gold glanced around the room, and realized that they had finished painting, so he put his paint brush down as well.

"So," Belle licked her lips, "Look, I really, really need to talk to you about something sometime, you know outside of work," she said with a quick glance towards where their friends were setting up the last of the chairs near the bar and surrounding booths.

"Ok," Gold agreed, a nervousness flooding through his veins once again. He swallowed the need to take off again, and decided to keep talking with her. If he didn't, well, then either Gold himself, or Jefferson would beat him up over it.

"Great," Belle said, brightening at the thought, "When do you have time?"

"How about saterday, at the grand opening?" Gold said, if other people were around, he would be less likely to run off. No, this time he would have to have that conversation with her. Gold swallowed hard, knowing that his careful actions around her, hadn't been careful enough. That she would tell him to back off, and reject him.

"That sounds great, I'll be there at seven sharp," she said smiling at him brightly.

"Agreed," Gold replied with a small smile.

They walked over to where the DJ would be stationed and began to set up the equipment. For a while they worked in companionable silence, then Belle spoke.

"Did you ever take an Art class in school? You really great at painting the walls. Better than me anyway, my trees look like broccoli," Belle said, nudging his shoulder to make sure he heard her.

"A few," Gold admitted, "But they didn't have many art classes when I was in school. Just basic things, like Drawings, general art and sculpting. What about you? What electives did you take in school?"

"I mainly took band and workshop." Belle said, she mimicked a percussionist playing the snare drums. "The teacher used to complain I was drowning out the vase drum with my snare".

Gold laughed.

Belle smiled at this, and continued her story, "Then, right after he had us play again, I would play really quiet, like I was a mouse, then I would bang on the snare as loud as I could; freaked my teacher out so much that have the time I'd end up in the principles' office."

"You sound like quite the trouble maker," he smirked, "But I'm afraid that I beat you in that category dearie."

"Oh yeah," Belle asked, her eyes narrowing with mischief, "I also annoyed my history teacher. See he had a British accent, so I would put in as many references to England and the American revoluntary war as I possible could. The only time I was actually good, was when I was in the library".

Gold snorted and laughed again, making Belle's smile widen considerable.

"I'm afraid but I still beat you ," he said, clasping his hands together in glee, "In high school, my senior year, my friends and I made it our personal mission to cause as much trouble for the school staff as possible."

Belle grinned, and motioned with her hand for him to continue.

"Every classroom had a strict set of rules, well, one day, Vinnie, Russel and I came to school early, and switched all of them, so when the teacher went to reprimand somebody, they got mad because they thought another teacher had done it. Another time, during home ec, we were baking cookies, and we always burnt them every time so we could eat them."

"Ooh," Belle's eyes widened, "What was the worst thing you ever did?"

"Got in trouble for, or didn't get in trouble for?" Gold asked.

"Both," Belle's eyes gleamed.

"Probably the time Russel and I got a classmate's cow on the roof of the school and with some of the other students help got all of the chairs from every classroom and put them in the lunch room. Vinnie and a few others distracted the teachers for us," Gold said, smiling at the memory.

"OK, I guess you do win," Belle said, placing her hand over his accidently, "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't see your hand there," she added, rearranging her hand so that it rested on his arm instead.

"It's fine," Rumple said, smiling shyly, and unable to fully meet her gaze, his cheeks reddening in a slight blush.

They joked around a little longer than when they were finished headed out with Ruby and Jefferson.

 _Sorry it's been a while since I updated, anyway hope you guys enjoyed the chapter._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"How's this look?" Belle asked Ruby as she walked out of her small closet where she had previously been changing.

Her best friend, Ruby was laying on the bed, her head propped up by one hand, while she flipped through the pages of a fashion magazine.

The women were in Belle's apartment bedroom, getting ready for the grand opening of Jefferson's nightclub, the Enchanted World. Jefferson had changed the name from what it had originally was going to be.

Now, both women were going through Belle's clothes, and the ones Ruby had brought over, to decide what they were going to wear at the grand opening tonight. It hadn't been difficult to pick something for Ruby to wear, the wild waitress had gone for a sparkling, knee length, strapless dress, and a pair of red high heels.

"Look's good; but you need to look even better if you're going to impress Mr. Gold tonight," Ruby said. She closed her magazine and rolled to the edge of the bed before hopping off and walking over to stand in front of Belle's closet.

The red head, while making sure not to mess up her dress, quickly went through Belle's selection of clothing, and after a moment exclaimed, "Aha," before pulling out a dress.

The dress, though simple, was enchantingly beautiful, and Belle thought, would make Gold blush quite a bit when he saw her. Which in any case was even better, because she loved it when he blushed, he always looked so cute.

GOLD'S P.O.V.

"You've got quite the turn out Jeff," Gold said, smiling as he and his best friend watched from the stage as people swarmed in.

The stage was at the back of the room, in the shape of a half circle, with lights flooding down onto it. Directly off to the left of the stage, closest to the stairs was the bar area, where Will Scarlet, Arial Fin, Anastia Hearts and a man named Robin Hoodson were working.

Along the left wall were the booths and a few tables where costumers were already nursing a few drinks. The rest of the main room was dedicated to being a dance floor.

"Yeah, even the Sheriff and Mayor showed up; wonder who's baby-sitting their son." Jefferson added, pointing to the two women.

The mayor was a stern woman with black shoulder length hair, and brown eyes named Regina Mills; while the sheriff was a blonde hair woman with hazel eyes named Emma Swan. For the last two years, the two women had been sharing custody of Emma's biological son, ever since she had decided to come back into his life after actually meeting Henry, their son.

With the two women was Emma's close friends Mary Margaret and David Nolan, along with Killian Jones, a man Gold wasn't quite sure he liked. Three years ago, Killian had gotten drunk at the rabbit hole and had sexually harassed Gold by quite openly kissing him. After the event, Killian had been mortified and had paid the fine. Now, despite seeing each other quite often, due to Killian being a renter of Gold's the two acted like the accident had never happened.

"You ready for that little chat you promised Belle," Jefferson asked, while he readjusted the microphone that was set up on stage.

Rum tucked his hands into his pants pockets and shrugged, "Just make sure I don't run out screaming when the girls come in, kay?"

Jefferson looked back at him, and nodded, grinning, "Don't worry, I won't let that happen". Apparently satisfied with the way the microphone looked, Jefferson patted Gold on the back reassuringly and headed down the stairs. Gold left the stage and followed him over to where his friend was now giving instructions to the four bartenders.

While Jefferson talked with the bartenders, Rum turned his head to look in the mirror that rested on the wall just behind the bar, and quietly observed his reflection.

Rum was wearing something a little different than he normally did and he hoped Belle liked it. He was wearing a dark green polo shirt with a purple tie, and a dark purple suit jacket, and a pair of black jeans with black and white sneakers.

He was also freed of his cane for tonight since he was wearing his leg brace that now fit snugly against his bad leg, helping to support his weight. The leg brace was also the reason he was wearing jeans. If he wore it with his dress pants, the dress pants more than often ripped, and he didn't feel like replacing them tonight.

A sudden hand on his shoulder scared him, and caused him to jump a little; but it was just Emma.

"Don't think I've ever seen you this casual Gold," Emma said; her hands in her red jacket's pockets.

Rum smiled, shrugging, and he motioned to the ice blue, knee length dress Emma was wearing underneath her jacket, "Don't think I've ever seen you this fancy," he said with a raise of his eyebrows.

Emma smiled, and shrugged, "I have a date tonight," she said simply, and nodded to where Killian was chatting with Robin at the bar.

When Emma had first come to town and she and Regina were butting heads, Gold had helped Emma out on several occasions, and now, they were friends, not that Gold would admit it.

Not that he would admit that he and Mayor Mills got along quite well too now, either.

"Alright, sorry about that love, I just had to make sure Robin knew the new working schedule at the loading docks," Killian said, walking up to them. He paled a little when he noticed Gold, but nodded politely at him. Rum returned the favor.

"I'll see you later Ms. Swan," Gol told her and walked back over to where Jefferson was waiting for him, leaning against the bar.

"Ready to go find the girls," Jefferson said, and Gold nodded.

It didn't take them long to find them, mainly due to Ruby's easy to recognize dresses. Within moments the two men had made their way over to them.

"Hi guys, great party you've got going," Ruby said when they'd made their presence known to the girls.

Rum missed Jefferson's reply, too taken with how amazing Belle looked to pay much attention to his friend or anything else for that matter.

She was wearing a simple sky blue, knee length, strapless dress that sported hundreds of tiny sparkles that made parts of the dress gleam silver and white when she moved.

Her hair was done up in a ponytail, and with the tiniest bit of make-up enhancing her already beautiful features, she was probably the most enchanting thing he had ever seen.

He was so preoccupied that he didn't even hear Ruby's question until Jefferson elbowed him in the side, saving him from an embarrassing silence by saying, "Would you two mind if Ruby and I go off and play DJ for a little while?"

"I don't mind," Belle said, and she looked at Gold, who quickly nodded, and told them that that was fine.

For a moment, Belle and Rum watched Jefferson and Ruby make their way towards the side of the stage where the DJ was stationed before turning back to face each other.

Rum swallowed hard once, his eyes flickering from Belle's eyes to the floor and back again, "Do you want to have that talk now?" he asked softly.

Belle nodded, and together they made their way over to one of the booths.

Just as they reached their chosen booth, Belle gave a little gasp and placed her hand over her mouth, staring wide eyed at him in surprise.

Gold cocked his head to the side in confusion, "What is it?" he asked.

Belle pointed at his leg, "You're not using your cane". Looking at her surprised and absolutely adorable expression, Gold wanted to do nothing more than scoop her up in his arms and kiss her.

Rum tapped his metal leg brace, "If I wear my leg brace I can get away with not using the cane," he told her with a smile gracing his features.

"Oh," Belle smiled and blushed, "That's makes sense". She then slid into the booth, and he slid into the one opposite of her, still smiling like an idiot.

Rum placed his hands on the table and folded them together, suddenly unsure of how they should start. Luckily for him, Belle seemed to have thought of that.

"So, you know things have been pretty weird between us for a while right?" Belle said, looking expectantly at him, but unfortunately it seemed some magically being had stolen his voice.

Rum nodded, not wanting her to think he wasn't listening when his brain seemed to have forgotten how to speak.

He glanced down at the table, squirming now that he was suddenly unable to speak. He had imagined himself leading this conversation, but that little fantasy was nothing like right now. He just hoped Belle didn't think him an idiot.

Suddenly, warm fingers brushed against the skin underneath his chin, and lifted his head up a little, making him look Belle in the eye. She was smiling sweetly at him, causing his cheeks to warm; and with a quickening heartbeat, Gold realized that he was blushing very obviously.

"Do you remember when you took me home?" Belle asked him, removing her hand from underneath his chin, only to use it to brush his hair out of his face before resting it against the side of his face. "When it was raining; and we were standing outside the library apartment talking, and I kept leaning towards you".

Gold nodded, and to his disappointment, Belle removed her hand from his face, but then rested it on his hand.

Belle took a deep breath, clearly nervous, before she continued, "Well, that was me trying to get you to kiss me. But you left, and I thought that maybe I scared you off and that you weren't interested in me, so I figured maybe we could just be friends. But when we met up at the Nightclub to finish it, and we started talking and joking around, I thought that maybe you were flirting with me."

Belle took another deep breath and went on, watching him carefully, "But other times you acted totally disinterested and I was starting to get really confused. So at the nightclub on Thursday, I was just going to grab you by the front of your shirt and kiss that act away, because I just couldn't take not knowing if you feel the same way about me. But I thought better of it because I thought I might spook you , so I thought having this talk would get everything out in the open, so here we are I guess".

Still too choked with emotion to talk, Rum moved his free hand over Belle's hand that was still resting over his other hand.

With butterflies storming around his belly, Rum carefully took Belle's hand between both of his and lifted it to his lips, his eyes never leaving her face as he dipped his head a little to plant a small kiss on the back of her hand.

"I feel the same way," Rum said softly, still blushing quite furiously.

Belle took her free hand and cupped the side of his face with it, and leaned forward. She stopped just inches from him.

Slowly, uncertainly, Rum leaned forward the rest of the way, and kissed her.

Her lips against his were soft, but demanding, and he found that he enjoyed the combination quite a bit.

When they pulled apart, both were smiling. Rum still held her right hand in both of his, keeping it close to his chest, while her free hand petted the side of his head and face.

Then as if on cue, the song, which had been Firework by Katy Perry turned to a country song, I don't dance by Luke Brian to be exact.

"Would you like to dance," Rum asked her, and she nodded.

Rum led her out onto the dance floor and let go of her hand which she quickly placed on his shoulder, with her other hand in his. Rum placed his remaining hand on her waist, pulling her close.

And they danced.

After the slow song ended, they kissed again, and Rum could've sworn his world was catching on fire.

"Belle," he murmured when they'd pulled apart again.

"Yeah," she looked up at him with impossibly innocent blue eyes.

He swallowed nervously, and rested his hand against her face, his thumb rubbing her cheek, "Will go to dinner with me on Monday?" he asked hopefully.

Belle smiled, "I'd love to".

A few hours of dancing and hanging out with Belle, Jeff and Ruby later, and the girls were leaving while Rum helped Jefferson close the place up for the night.

"So, how'd it go?" Jefferson asked, sticking the key into the door knob and turning it. The knob clicked, announcing it was locked.

Jefferson turned to face Gold, shoving the key into his pocket as he did so, his Cheshire cat smile back.

"You purposely changed the song to a slow song didn't you?" Rum said, suddenly realizing that Jefferson and Ruby had been watching him and Belle.

"Mm," Jefferson's smile broadened, "Maybe".

 _Hope you guys liked the chapter. It took forever to write._


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Rumford hummed quietly to himself as he flipped through a tourist book of all the restraunts in Storybrooke, trying to decide where he would take Belle.

Maybe he could take her to the Italian Buffet 6 place down town, or perhaps the Chinese resteraunt up town? But what if she doesn't want to go to a high class resteruant? Maybe Grannies would be better . . .

He groaned softly, and rubbed his temples, "You're overthinking this thing Rumford," he told himself, yet he couldn't help it. He'd already had plenty of relationships that had gone wrong, mainly the one with his ex-wife, Milah.

Rumford sighed and reached for his phone, thinking about calling Jefferson to ask since he had dated far more woman and had more luck then Rumford himself had, even though he was older. He decided against it though upon remembering that Grace had just recently arrived at her father's house yesterday.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Rumford startled as his phone began going off in his hand, alerting him that someone was calling him. He smiled as his son's face showed up on his iphone's screen.

He slid his thumb across the screen and put the phone to his ear, "Hello?"

"Hey Dad," Neal's familiar voice washed over him.

"Hey son, how are you?" Rumple asked, happy to have a chance to speak with his son. For the last two days, he'd been nervously debating on whether or not to call and tell Neal that he had a girlfriend and was going to have a date with her on Monday.

"I'm great," Neal replied cheerfully, "And I have even better news, I'm moving back to Storybrooke!"

Rumford' heart nearly burst out of his chest in sure happiness, "You are! That's great son!" Rumford told him earnestly, "But what about your journalism career in New York?"

"I was getting kind of home sick, so I called Sidney Glass up, you know, the guy that runs the newspaper in Storybrooke, and we got to talking, and I mentioned that I was wanting to move back home, and he told me that two of their reporters retired, so he can hire me. Isn't that great? I start two weeks from now, on Monday," Neal gushed, and Rumple smiled, imagining his son's face lit up by excitement, "So what have you been up to?" Neal asked.

"Oh nothing much," Rumford smirked, "Just helped Jefferson open up a new Nightclub, and on the opening night I asked someone to go on a date with me".

There was about five seconds of silence while Rumford's news sank in before his son gave an excited whoop.

"Are you kidding me? Who'd you ask? How'd you meet? When can I meet her?" Neal instantly started gushing.

Rumford chuckled softly, "Her name's Belle French, she's my handy-man Moe French's daughter. I met her when her father went on vacation, because she was standing in for him. And if all goes well on Monday, you can meet her when you get here".

"Great, I'm going to start packing right now! I'll see you in a couple of days Dad!" Neal said, "Goodluck!"

"Thanks son, love you," Rumford said, smiling so widely that his grin nearly split his face in two.

"Love you too," Neal responded happily.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Belle stood outside of the library, tugging on the hem of her knee length golden yellow dress. She had done her make up so that it made her beautiful blue eyes seem to glow, while her hazel brown hair cascaded around her angel-like face.

Rumford Gold had told her he would pick her up at the library around sixish, and it was currently six O one.

Belle nervously started playing with the ends of her hair, hoping that Rumford hadn't gotten cold feet at the last moment, after all the man was still quite skittish.

But then to her relief, his car pulled up to the curb, and he stepped out, once again wearing his leg brace, that freed his hands.

His chocolate brown eyes drank in the sight of her, and Belle smiled, knowing she'd made a good choice of clothing for their first date.

He rested his hand on the small of her back and led her around to the side of the car, and opened the passanger door for her. Belle smiled at him, "You're such a gentleman".

He smiled back at her, "I aim to impress," he said before he walked swiftly around the front of his car and hopped into the driver's side.

Once they were on the road, Belle asked, "So where are we going?"

Rumple looked over at her shyly, "I thought we'd have dinner at my house," he told her, as he turned the corner and drove down the street that where the richer neighborhood was located.

Soon they pulled up into the driveway of a large pink house that in Belle's opinion looked far more like a mansion than a house.

"You live here?" Belle said in surprise, smiling as she took in the pink color of it despite the dark.

"Mm-hm, you like it?" Rumford said a little absent mindedly as he shut the engine off and hopped out of the car.

"It's beautiful," Belle gushed.

Rumford smiled at her words. Looking pleased he placed his hand at the small of her back and led her inside.

"Wow," Belle breathed as she set foot into his living room.

Off to the left side of the room was an old bookcase, placed against the wall and just beyond that a couch facing the door, and a Flat screen TV hanging on the wall on the other side of the room, that faced the couch.

On the bookshelf, besides a few dozen books that were there, were many little odd but interesting and pretty trinkets that surely must've come from his shop at some point.

Rumford, proving to be ever the gentleman, took her coat from her and hung it up on a hook that rested on the back of the front door.

Then he led her out of the living room and into the dining room, which was just past the living room.

The dining room it seemed was just as elegant and beautiful as the man's living room. There was a large maple wood table in the middle of the space, with eight chairs around it, while a silver and sparkling chandelier hung above it, lighting the space.

Rumford pulled a chair out for her and then hurried into the kitchen, which was separate from the dining room only be half of a wall, and just as Belle sat down, came out of the kitchen, miraculously carrying a wine bottle, two glasses, and two plates of spaghetti and meatballs.

He sat across from her, and the two of them ate in a companionable silence. After they were finished eating, Rumford looked up at her and asked, "So . . . How was it?"

"Mm, you cook be a chef," Belle told him, her belly comfortably full with delicious spaghetti.

She helped him clean up, and after they had put the last of the dishes away, he asked, "Do you want to watch a movie?"

She nodded, and he led her back into the living room where she picked out a movie he had bought recently called Pixels and he popped it in for her.

They sat down on the couch, and Belle, feeling brave from the wine, curled up against hi side, and was extremely pleased when he put his arm around her, her head resting against his chest.

"Mm," Belle sighed contently as the movie started to play; Rum smelled like paper, both old and new, but there was a piney scent as well, Belle figured it was his cologne.

"Are you an only child?" Rumford rumbled; clearly as content as Belle. She turned her head to look up at him, and nodded.

"Yeah; it's just me and my dad. My mom divorced my dad when I was little and moved back to Australia," Belle replied, "What about you? My dad mentioned that you have a son to me once".

"Yes, he's name's Neal." He said, "He moved to New York after he was finished with high school about a year ago to become a reporter, but now he's coming home and is going is to work for Mr. Glass. You'll get to meet him tomorrow hopefully".

"He's sounds wonderful," Belle murmured, before a yawn overtook her, "I can't wait to meet him".  
"Me too," Rumford agreed.

A couple moments later, they fell asleep in each other's arms, still cuddling.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"Aw!" Rum slowly opened his eyes to see his son's face only a foot from him, smiling like an idiot.

Instantly, Rumford sat up, bocking heads with his son who backpedaled to avoid more of a collision when Belle woke with a soft "oh," and sat up.

Both men rubbed their foreheads, scowling while Belle looked from one to the other in confusion, then her face lit up and she turned to face Neal, "You must be Neal!"

The man had brown hair like his father, but it was of a lighter shade, and had his father's deep brown eyes.

Neal nodded, and grinned again, "You must be my Papa's new Girlfriend huh? He told me a bit about you".

Rumford felt his insides twist, and his face heat up from an intense blush when Belle nodded, "Yep I'm Belle," and then added with a hint of curiosity, "What'd he tell you?"

Neal stuck his tongue out at his father, who scowled, "Neal," he said warningly.

Neal's smile widened, and his eyes gleamed with sudden mischief, "Oh, you know," he said, turning to face Belle while completely ignoring the look of fury on his father's face. "Just how you're the best thing to happen to him since me and Jefferson, and how he thinks you're the most amazing person he's ever met, and—"

Rum leapt to his feet and clapped a hand over his laughing son's mouth. Neal raised his hand and lazily slapped his father's arm with it. Retaliating, Rumford caught his nineteen year old son in a headlock and ruffled his hair, while Neal laughed helplessly.

Belle smiled watching the two men wrestle around on the living room floor, both wearing twin masks of mischief, their eyes gleaming with happiness. Her smiles became even bigger when Neal called to her, including her in their little game, "Belle get his sides! He's really ticklish there!"

Neal had backed Rumford towards Belle; the pawnbroker was too busy trying to gain the upper-hand on his son to notice Belle creeping up behind him.

Then the pawnbroker sank to the floor the moment Belle ran her fingers up and down his ribs making him laugh, while Neal slid forward and fell on top of him.

Belle was instantly kneeling down on the floor next to them, her hands fluttering in front of her, ready to help them if either were hurt, "Are you guys ok?" she asked, biting her lower lip in worry.

Rumford leaned back against her, while Neal sat up, both very content. "Yeah, we're ok Sweetheart," Rumford told her. For a while, the three of them sat there, chatting quietly among themselves before Rumford reminded them that the Storybrooke picnic was today at one and they had to get ready for it.

Both Rum and Neal had agreed to go to it since it would be the first day Neal would be back, plus it would give them plenty of socializing time, which Neal thought was very important. Rumford disagreed but wasn't going to argue when going out in public with his father seemed to make his son happy.

"I'm so excited for the picnic," Belle gushed when the three of them had just finished breakfast and were now cleaning up the kitchen.

"Wow dad, you found a social butterfly even more social then Jefferson and me," Neal teased them, drying their plates before placing them in the correct cabinet.

Rumford chuckled in agreement.

"No, not about that," Belle said, "My dad gets back today, he'll be at the picnic!" Rumford's heart instantly did a 360, and a sharp knife tore at his insides. What would Moe think about their relationship?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"You what? Ha ha, Killian, remind me to get you drunk again sometime," Emma laughed.

She, Rumford, Belle, Killian, Neal, Jefferson and Ruby were all sitting on a blanket out in the park, eating watermelon and homemade sloppy joes that Granny and several other chefs had provided the town with.

"Yeah, don't ever mention that I kissed him, ok. What happens on the pinic blanket, stays at the picnic blanket," Killian said awkwardly, blushing furiously. He rubbed the back of his head with his hand, looking uncomfortable.

Neal chuckled, "Sorry mate, Emma's your problem now". At one time, Neal and Emma had dated, but now Emma was engaged to Killian, while Neal apparently had a date planned out next Tuesday with one Tinker Bell Adison.

"So how is Henry Emma?" Rumford asked, slipping his arm around Belle's waist to pull her close. Belle smiled and snuggled back against him happily.

"He's doing great," the sheriff gushed, happy to talk about her son, "He's at Regina's this week, but now that Regina and I are friends, he's so much happier".

"That's great Emma," Jefferson said before anyone else had a chance to speak.

"Hey Belle, come here," Arial, a close friend of Ruby and Belle's said, motioning for the burnette to follow her.

Belle stood up and leaned over to kiss Rumford on the forehead, "I'll be right back, stay put". And just like that, she was gone, having disappeared through the crowd after her friend.

"Wonder what that's about," Neal yawned, and playfully punched his father in the arm, "She's a keeper dad, don't do anything to scare her off, ok?"

"I'll try not to son," Rumford replied, ruffling his boy's hair affectionately.

The others laughed.

"Hey Neal," Jefferson swatted at the younger man's leg, effectively gaining his attention.

"Yeah,"

"You should come see your father, and I's night club, it's pretty awesome," Jefferson boasted proudly, puffing out his chest a little.

Rumford snickered.

"Sounds cool, think I will," Neal told him.

Suddenly Belle came running back up to them, her blue eyes shining with delight and excitement.

"What's going on Belle?" Rumford asked, curious.

"My father's here," Belle squealed.

 _Yeah, being very lazy today, so the chapter's pretty short. I thought the story could do with some more fluff, anyway hope you guys enjoyed it_.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Dad! Dad!" Belle led Rumford through the crowd towards her father, a big heavy man by the name of Moe French.

He had a tool belt wrapped around his thick waist, and was wearing a chief's cap. Belle's father was talking to a few friends of his.

Rumford gulped when the big man turned around, but he didn't notice Rumford, just Belle. Moe smiled, and embraced his daughter with a big hug.

"Belle! Look at you, you've grown even more beautiful than the last time I saw you, my precious girl," Moe boomed in his loud voice, he held her at arm's length and inspected her.

"I missed you dad," Belle said, and he told her he had missed her too.

Then Belle turned and motioned for Rumford to join them. He swallowed hard, and slowly, uncertainly walked over to stand behind Belle.

Moe watched them with curiosity in his eyes, but didn't say anything.

"Dad," Belle began, "You remember Rumford right?" Rumford's eyes flickered nervously from Moe to an opening in the crowd. He wanted to flee the scene, but instead he moved to rest his hand hands on Belle's shoulders.

"Of course I do Belle, but its politer to call him Mr. Gold," Moe narrowed his eyes at them, eyeing Rumford's hands that now rested on Belle's shoulders. "Since when have you two been on a first name basis?"

"We're dating now," Belle announced, and to emphasize the point, reached up and took one of Rumford's hands into hers.

"Is that so?" Moe murmured, his facial expression carefully concealing how he felt about this.

"Aye, it is Mr. French," Rumford said, beginning to squirm a little.

To his surprise, Moe laughed at this, and embraced both Belle and Rumford in a big hug, "Well then, you'd best not break my daughter's heart Gold, or I'll have to break your face". He released them and smiled, clasping his hands together.

"B-but I thought you'd be—" Rumford started to say.

"Be angry?" Moe guessed, and Mr. Gold nodded.

Moe shrugged, still grinning, "I was, when Widow Lucas called and first told me about it, but I've come to understand that he makes you happy," Moe said, then added with a spark of mischief in his eyes, "And if he doesn't we can throw him to the curb, now let's go get some food, I'm starved".

Rumford took Belle's hand in his, and together they followed Moe to where the others of their group were waiting.

Maybe I do deserve a second chance after all, Rumford thought happily, as he, Belle and Moe joined his son, Jefferson, Emma, Ruby and Killian.

The End.


End file.
